Synergy SIS–

TeacherVUE and

Grade Book Training

2016-2017

TeacherVUE

Navigation Overview

Taking Attendance

Seating Charts

Changing Classes

Substitute Instructions

Student Nicknames

Other Functions from Seating Chart

Dual Login

Grade Book

Navigation Overview

Creating a New Assignment

Resources

TeacherVUE Navigation Overview

Synergy Icon- Click this icon to switch from your TeacherVUE to Synergy screen

Home Button- Click “Home” to return to current seating chart

Home Menu- this menu will be your main source of navigation scroll over for the “Home” button to produce the

menu.

Commonly used TeacherVUE Functions- this provides quick navigation to your seating charts, attendance, and

reports.

Attendance Verification- The attendance button will be highlighted in yellow if the attendance has not been taken

for that period, it will be white when the attendance is recorded.

Substitute Instructions- This is a feature where notes can be left for your substitutes

Student Assignment search- when searching a student it will bring you to the Student Summary page in Grade

Book

Change Class Shortcut and Dropdown- Click on teacher name in order to get to the Change Class Menu or go to

the drop-down menu to choose the class you want to focus on

Zoom In- this will enlarge or shrink your seating chart

Class Information- Shows you the Term, Period, Room #, and Course details of the class

Attendance Tallies- Shows the attendance for the class period

Edit Button- You may edit the current seating chart directly from the home screen

Taking Attendance

In order to take attendance hover over the Attendance menu in the commonly used teacher functions group in the

center of your screen. You may choose take attendance by chart or list. To verify if you have taken attendance see

if the attendance bar is highlighted or not.

Attendance NOT Submitted Attendance Submitted

Taking Attendance by Chart

Once you have selected to take attendance by seating chart you may then click on the student picture (or box if

you have selected to not include pictures) to mark them absent or tardy. A small box will appear in the lower left

hand corner of the student’s picture and the color will coordinate with the type of absence or tardy. The Reason

Types box will also list the students by name in coordination with their absence code. *NOTE: Only students who

are tardy or absent from the class should be marked. Those students who are present do not have any code

appear in the lower left hand corner of their picture. When you have completed taking attendance for that

particular class you may then click “Save” and your attendance will be sent to the main office.

Taking Attendance by List

Once you have selected to take attendance by list you may then click on the student box to mark them absent or

tardy. A color code will appear in the student’s corresponding box and will coordinate with the type of absence or

tardy. The Reason Types box will also list the students by name in coordination with their absence code. *NOTE:

Only students who are tardy or absent from the class should be marked. Those students who are present do not

have any code appear in their box for the day. When you have completed taking attendance for that particular

class you may then click “Save” or “Save and Return” then your attendance will be sent to the main office.

Seating Charts In order to access your seating charts hover over the Charts menu on the Commonly Used Teacher Functions list.

From the Charts menu you may either choose from the seating charts you have already created or you can add a

new Grid or Freeform chart. You may also edit your current seating chart by clicking the Edit button on your main

screen.

Adding a Grid Seating Chart

Once you have selected to add the Grid seating chart you will be brought to the Edit seating chart menu. The Grid

Seating Chart allows you to create a seating chart based in rows and columns.

On your Grid seating chart you will need to create a Title for your chart. From there you will be able to choose your

Seating Chart Configurations.

Student Name Format- Here you can choose how your students’ names are displayed on your chart as well as

choosing to sort by alpha and which information is displayed with the name.

Front of Classroom- you can choose the front of your classroom

Seating Chart Dimensions- You can either use the sliders or + and – buttons to expand chart

Unassigned Students- This list appears on the bottom right of your screen but can be moved by selecting the title

and dragging it. Here you can fill by alpha or random. Once they have been filled in the chart you can click

randomize or sort to resort your chart. You may drag certain students back from the chart to the unassigned

students list. Click Clear to remove all students.

Adding a Freeform Seating Chart

Once you have selected to add the Freeform seating chart The Freeform Seating Chart allows you to create a

seating chart in any pattern. You can also choose from a Template if you have created one.

On your Freeform seating chart you will need to create a Title for your chart. From there you will be able to choose

your Seating Chart Configurations.

Students- Here you can fill in the unassigned student by alpha or random. You can click and drag any student on

and off the list. Once they have been filled in the chart you can click randomize or sort to resort your chart. Click

Clear to remove all students.

Furniture- In this menu you can choose furniture and set up your freeform chart to mirror your actual classroom.

Student’s names can be dragged into the chairs on the chart.

Pinning a Student- When you put students in chairs you can “Pin” them to the seat so that the chair and the

student will move together, otherwise the student can be moved to a different chair.

Preferences- Here you can choose how your students’ names are displayed in addition to what information per

student is shown on your chart. You can also choose the orientation of the classroom, student fill order, and

locking furniture.

Once you click Save you will be brought back to your home page. Now if you go under the Charts menu you will be

able to select between the charts just created.

Making a Template for a Freeform Seating Chart

Creating a Template allows you to create a master layout of your classroom that you can use for multiple sections.

To create a template, begin by selecting “Templates” from the charts menu.

Once you have the template open you can title your template and begin to customize it.

Furniture- In this menu you can choose furniture and set up your freeform chart to mirror your actual classroom.

Student’s names can be dragged into the chairs on the chart.

Preferences- Here you can choose how your students’ names are displayed in addition to what information per

student is shown on your chart. You can also choose the orientation of the classroom, student fill order, and

locking furniture.

Selected Furniture- When you have furniture selected you will have the option to delete (using the red X ) or the

Rotation feature. You can move the selected furniture anywhere on the page as well. You can select multiple

pieces of furniture by clicking and dragging. You can also Copy (CTRL+C) and (CTRL+V) multiple pieces of selected

furniture at one time.

Changing Classes In order to change classes you may either use the Home Menu, Your name in the user information on the right of

your homepage, or directly on the Class Focus Drop Down.

Once you have selected to change classes you can use the Focus tool to drop down your filter options. You can

then use the Term drop down to choose a term to focus on. When you are ready to select a class, just click on it.

Substitute Instructions Scroll over the Home Menu and select Substitute Instructions. Once you get to the Substitute Instructions Screen

you can begin.

Select the Instructions Date and click the check box to confirm you will be out on that date. To enter instructions

for substitute teachers click the class header to expand the entry field for the substitute instructions. Use the copy

drop down to copy between classes of the same course, individually, all blank, or all classes. Once complete, press

Save and Return to post the instructions and return to the seating chart.

Student Nicknames You can record students’ nicknames or preferred names and have them display on the seating chart.

From the Home Menu, select the Student Nicknames option and you will be brought to the Student Nicknames

Screen.

Enter the nickname or preferred name of each student in the box provided to the right of their name. When you

have finished, click Save & Return to save your work and go back to the seating chart.

Other Functions from the Seating Chart In addition to taking attendance you may also access student information and create notes from your seating

chart.

Creating a Note

Hovering over a student’s picture will produce a box in the upper left-hand corner; click this box to add a note for

an individual student. Once you have added the note you can click Save.

Accessing Student Info

Click on a student’s picture to have the student menu pop up. From the student detail menu you are able to view a

number of items pertaining to that student. In order to access general information, click on the Student selection

of the Student detail menu.

Teacher Dual Login

When you first log into your account, you will be taken to the TeacherVUE side of Synergy. Here you will

be able to keep attendance and print out reports based on the students in your sections

From here you can go to Synergy Base to look up more detailed information on students. To complete

this action simply click on the Synergy Icon on the left hand side of the screen.

After clicking the Synergy button you may be prompted to choose stay or leave the page. Clicking “Leave

Page” will bring you to the Synergy screens.

Parts of the Synergy Screen REVIEW

Once you login to the Synergy Screen you will see something like this below:

The six main areas of the Synergy screen are:

Title Bar: Shows the current focus, contains the Navigation icons and Quick Launch box, and lists links

for locking the screen, signing out, contacting support, and searching online help.

Action Bar: Contains links and buttons for performing activities such as Save or Add relating to the

current screen.

Title Area: Displays the title information about the current screen and the icon for the Quick Nav Bar.

Content Area: Contains the current screen where records can be displayed and edited.

Toolbars: Shows one or more groups of icons setup by the Synergy SIS system administrator

representing shortcuts to frequently used areas in Synergy SIS. Each user can also create their own

custom toolbar groups.

Navigation Tree: Also known as the PAD tree, it contains a tree structure that shows all of the screens

and reports that can be accessed.

Navigation Bar

Navigation Tree

Content Area

Title Area

Action Bar

Title Bar

Using the Navigation Bar

Student: Contains detailed profiles on each student separated into tabs such as Demographics,

Parent/Guardian, Enrollment, etc.

Student Classes: Enables one to search for students and display their current schedule.

Student Needs: Displays individual’s district fee enrollment status.

Free and Reduced Meals: Allows the ability to search students and see their free/reduced

status.

Class List: Permits class lists to be printed within parameters that can be changed for individual

needs.

Searching Students

Abbott

When searching for a student, use the action bar to enter the “find mode” by clicking the magnifying

glass. Once the boxes are yellow, enter any information in any field box to being searching for a student.

Then click find or hit the enter key on your keyboard to get the screen below. To scroll between

students use the navigation arrows.

Viewing Health Conditions

To view Health Conditions for students, open the Navigation Tree and expand the tree as follows:

Synergy SIS>>Health>>Health

This will pull up the Health conditions for the selected student.

When you are ready to return to the TeacherVUE screen you may click the TVUE button you will be

prompted to stay or leave the page. Again click “Leave Page”

Health Conditions will be displayed here

Grade Book Navigation Overview

Grade Book Menu- All of your Grade Book functions are conveniently located in one drop down menu.

Focus Options- When you click the drop-down menu you can define your focus by terms, class, and

period.

Filters & Options- In this menu you can choose to filter by assignment date or type. There are many

options such as showing/hiding dropped students, showing comments, etc. You may also sort students

using this menu.

Student Group Management- this menu is located in the < to the left of the Grade Book. Here you can

edit your groups.

+ New- this button is your Create a New Assignment button where you can add new assignments.

Search by Assignment bar- this will bring you directly to the Assignment Page.

Search by Student Assignments bar- searching in this bar will bring you to the Student Summary Page.

Student and Grade Headings- these headings lock when you scroll down for convenience.

Cross Highlighting- when entering grades there will be automatic cross highlighting to assist with

entering scores.

Creating a New Assignment

To create a new assignment, you can either access it from your Grade Book Menu by choosing New

Assignment or you can click the [+ New] button on your Grade Book main page.

On the New Assignment screen you can fill in the details for your assignment. In Assignment Settings

you can set a future date for assignments and choose to either show or not show in the Parent and

Student Portal by clicking the check box. In Assignment Settings you can also name and set a description

of your assignment and set scoring.

In the Category Values section there is an overview of all the assignments associated with the focused

section.

You can add the assignment you created to multiple sections by selecting the Sections tab and then you

can select the sections to apply this assignment to. You may also apply this assignment to multiple

grading periods in the Grading Periods tab. When you have completed filling in all the details for your

assignment you can click the Save Assignment and it will take you back to your main Grade Book page

or you can click the drop-down menu to choose to either Save/Enter Scores or Save/Add Another

Assignment. Save/Enter Scores will take you to the assignment page to enter scores. However if you

have multiple assignments to add you can click Save/Add Another Assignment and it will save your

assignment and pull up another blank New Assignment Page.

Resources

Go to your Grade Book Menu and scroll down to Resources

Once you are on the Resources Page you can choose where you would like your resource to appear. You

may apply it to one or multiple classes. You may also select the Resource Type, depending on which

you choose an upload prompt will appear below so that you may attach the resource. To look through

your current resources look under the Assignment Resources section.